Roommates
by Aerotyl
Summary: Tifa Lockhart has some initial struggles finding a place to stay in Midgar for the duration of her Medical school. But a stranger has an opening for a roommate. Are they doomed to clash or will they get along? Finding a good roommate is harder than Tifa thought. Slight Modern AU but not really. Definite canon-divergence, a little OOC, Cloti Zerith, REWORK [T for language]
1. Chapter 1

1 -Like a Good Neighbor...-

It was, least to say, an absolutely miserable day for Tifa Lockhart.

It started as a relatively good morning. The sun was shining, blue skies clear of any clouds, and the birds were all chirping their merry song. And this good morning was spent driving to the realtor's office to meet with the agent in the area. All her favorite songs were playing on the radio and Tifa even found time to pick up some specialty coffee prior to her meeting. So when she entered the office, she was quietly humming to herself as she sipped her excellent coffee, her long hair swaying as she had an extra skip in her step while she walked.

But when she left the office with the real estate agent.

Oh boy.

The wind was howling and the rain poured down with an almost bruising force. And although this was typical weather for Midgar, Tifa hadn't thought about bringing an umbrella or a raincoat when the morning weather seemed so innocuous. In a matter of seconds, Tifa's large grey hoodie was soaked and it hung off her shoulders heavily. Her sneakers squelched uncomfortably with every step she took, the cold water seeping through her socks and causing her poor toes to curl.

And in that poor miserable state, she visited every apartment the agent had showed her.

Tifa's very high standards reared its ugly head at every single apartment. Bathroom too small, no laundry in the entire building, the neighbors are wannabe rock stars and/or DIY handymen, the list went on. And towards the end of the day, Tifa was growing desperate, her cranky mood definitely not helping.

"There's one last apartment but it's on the other side of Midgar, near the Shinra Military Base and Academy. It's a little far from Midgar Medical but there's a direct line via the metro," the agent said in a detached manner, completely unaware of Tifa's plight, and made his way to his own car without looking back. Tifa grumpily got into her own car and followed.

They pulled up to a rather plain, but very tall building. And Tifa could only glare. _This better be good_ , she thought.

The humidity had made her hair curl on itself and Tifa was positive she looked like a raving mad witch so she pulled the sopping wet hood over her hair and wrapped her arms around herself. The apartment was on the 27th floor but Tifa was surprised to find it was still relatively well heated. The hallways were well lit by large glass windows and her squelching sneakers were muffled by plush red carpets.

"This building is mostly meant for the cadets and officers at the military academy, but they make a few exceptions for civilians," The agent remarked.

 _Shinra sure knows how to treat their officers well_ , Tifa thought dryly, but the building looked promising so she kept silent. When they got to the door of the apartment, the agent looked startled as he patted down all his pockets.

"I could've sworn…" he muttered.

When he looked back up to Tifa, he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"I'm afraid, I've misplaced the key, Miss Lockheart. I can go by the office to pick up a spare and you could wait here, if you'd like."

Tifa gave a tight lipped smile and nodded and watched as the agent left in a hurry. She looked around for the first five minutes before giving up and sitting by the door. Her knees were drawn close and she wrapped her arms around herself. Even the well heated halls couldn't keep away the onslaught of shivers from her drenched hoodie. Everything was quiet save for the soft whirring noise of the vents for a while until a soft baritone voice cut through the silence.

"Hey, are you okay? Did you get locked out?"

Tifa's head snapped up and her brain short-circuited. Her wine colored eyes met with an electric blue eyes. This man's eyes had to be the most startling feature because _they glowed_. There was a faint green ring around the iris and looked almost bioluminescent. And his hair, Tifa wanted to scream out in jealousy, looked like it was spun from gold under the natural light filtering through the windows, almost causing a halo-like effect. This man was standing in front of her with a brown paper bag in his arms full of groceries with a look of concern, but all Tifa could see was a heart stopping, unfairly attractive model.

Then she realized she was staring.

"U-uh, I'm waiting for-"

The man gave a soft chuckle, "If you're waiting for the locksmith he doesn't come for a good, solid three hours."

"O-oh," Tifa stuttered out, trying to have some semblance of normalcy. Noticing the girl was shivering and sniffling every so often, the man spoke again.

"If you want a towel I can give you some, it looks like you caught the worst of the storm. C'mon. I'm two doors down. You'll catch a cold sitting out here. You can wait at my place until the guy comes."

Tifa nodded dumbly and trailed behind the man as he juggled the bag to fish out his keys.

"So," he grunted out as he pushed his door open, "What brings you to this humble apartment complex on the far south side of Midgar?"

He took his boots off and dumped them on the floor, causing two very distinct heavy sounds as they hit the floor.

"Uh…I'm looking for an apartment for this coming Fall."

"Huh, so you weren't waiting for a locksmith?"

Tifa tucked her socks into her soaking shoes and stood up straight.

"No, the realtor."

The man began to walk down a hall and disappeared into one of the rooms. Tifa took her chance to look around. The large tinted windows from the outside hallway actually gave a lot of natural light to the living room. The sofa set were of modern design with black leather and chrome handles. There was a large LED TV propped on the wall in front of the sleek coffee table. But things were in a complete disarray. There were clothes flung over the top of the chairs, from formal suit jackets to- _is that a pair of boxers?_. There were books carelessly stacked on the coffee table and a large collection of uncleaned coffee mugs. There was a pizza box open with still a slice left right next to a jumble of black wires that connected a game console to the television. The counter of the open kitchen was covered in manila folders stacked on top of each other with no sense of order and a potted plant in the corner, clearly dying of dehydration. Tifa crinkled her nose at the warzone before her.

"So did you find one?" he yelled out.

"Find what?"

The man stepped back out with a towel and a stack of clothes on top.

"An apartment that you liked."

Tifa shook her head.

"This building was the last one, but I didn't get to see the inside of the apartment yet."

"Yeah, Shinra treats their cadets well. I thought you were my new neighbor, but I guess not. That apartment room you were by was just signed two days ago."

Tifa slightly wilted. If the layout of the apartment was anything like the one she was currently in, she would've signed the lease in a heartbeat. The metro was inexpensive, albeit complex, and the Shinra Academy area was a safe. And neighbors like this man wasn't all that bad of a perk either.

The man looked down at the items he was carrying before handing them to Tifa, "Here are some towels, my friend Aerith left a few woolly socks you can use for now if you'd like. And there's a hoodie to change into. Bathroom is on the left, third door."

The bathroom followed the same modern sleek design, white marble floors with glass panes around the shower. The large mirror was bordered with a bright LED light. She placed the stack of towels and clothes on top of the toilet seat and began to wring out the water in her long hair.

She stared back at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. _No openings, huh_. She'd have to try and settle a deal with Midgar Medical to live in a dorm nearby or something. Her friend Barrett might have something too. Maybe if she calls her dad, he might have some long lost relative in Midgar where she could crash with for a couple months.

She finally dried out her hair and changed clothes, slipping on a pair of very thick and woolly socks that instantly made her frozen toes feel again. She sent a silent thank you to whoever this Aerith girl was as she rubbed her hands together. Tifa almost drowned in the black hoodie the man gave her and Shinra Military's crest was emblazoned across the front. _So he's definitely military._

Now dawned in the dry warm hoodie and thick socks, when Tifa looked into the mirror again, her situation suddenly hit her.

She was in a man's apartment, alone, wearing his clothes, and she didn't even know his name. She could almost her her mother screaming at her all the way in Nibelheim about getting into dangerous situation with men. _One would think with twenty years of being alive, a girl would have some self preservation_ , a voice in her head not unlike her mother scolded. _Yeah, but he looks hot,_ a voice reminiscent of her friend Yuffie chimed in, but then added, _use your instincts, he doesn't seem all that bad, if you're not getting bad vibes I'm sure he'll be okay_.

Tifa nodded to herself, and then steeled her wits to leave the bathroom.

The man was leaning against the counter, holding mug of water precariously in his left hand while he handed a mug to Tifa with his other.

"Water?"

Tifa took it and muttered a thank you before taking sips. The man seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before setting his cup down on the counter and crossed his arms.

"So, I was thinking," he paused almost hesitantly and went silent. Tifa nodded reassuringly for him to continue.

"If, maybe you wanted to, uh, stay, only if you wanted of course, perhaps-" the man continued to trip over his words. Tifa only tilted her head in confusion and set her mug down to mirror his posture.

"What I mean to say is," he paused again, "If you're looking for, like, an apartment maybe you can room with me? I mean I know I'm like close to a stranger but there's a lock on the spare bedroom door and honestly I can send you some letters of recommendation from other neighbors? I'm not like creepy or anything, I swear. I just, kind of need to split the bill around here because I've been spending most of my bills repairing my bike, and you kinda just showed up like an opportunity on a silver platter. I mean I can still pay most of the rent since I'm on military discount and what not-" the man kept rambling and Tifa could only chuckle behind her hands tucked inside the sleeves of the hoodie after the mention of 'letters of recommendations'.

Inner Yuffie was right. Her instincts were telling her this guy isn't so bad.

"-and wow, I just realize I don't even know your name and I'm inviting you to room with me. Sorry what's your name?" The man finally finished. He looked flushed and out of breath from his long monologue.

Tifa grinned and extended her hand to him.

"I'm Tifa Lockhart."

The man reached for the hand with his own and shook tentatively.

"I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife. Nice to meet you, Tifa."

"Likewise, Cloud. I think," she tapped her chin thoughtfully and then gave a knowing look to Cloud, "I'll take you up on that offer."

The slowly growing shy smile Cloud gave her felt like sunlight after a rainy day and Tifa could only feel herself returning the favor with a beaming smile.

AN:/ Here's the first rewritten chapter! Unbetaed so if there are any errors, please tell me! As for the title of this chapter, I dunno, every time I hear 'good neighbor' I can only complete the sentence with the state farm ad. As you can see there are a lot of changes, because let's be honest, this scenario is far more likelier than the first one I conjured up. This story will be following Cloud and Tifa's relationship as they develop from roommates to something more.

Questions and Concerns? Leave a review and let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

2 -Mess? What Mess?-

Moving in with Cloud was, well, as simple as moving in could get. Tifa signed the papers and immediately set to moving in the sparse things she had. The apartment came fully furnished, after all. Cloud had moved out all his things from the spare bedroom, which despite the warnings of a 'mess', looked like it was taken from an interior design magazine.

The high vaulted bed was center front with a black leather headboard, paired with two sleek black nightstands on either side and modern lamps. There were the trademark unnecessary amount of pillows perched on the bed with a small gathering of dust from lack of use. There was a leather seat off the side with a glass coffee table right in front of the large windows overlooking the city below, large black drapes pushed off to the sides.

 _Very dark color scheme_ , Tifa crinkled her nose, _time for some remodeling._

As if he could read minds, Cloud told Tifa since it was her room now she could change whatever furnishings were in there since they came with the apartment and weren't his.

"If you need anything taken out, let me know and I can get the building services to take them to storage."

After that, Cloud actually rarely saw Tifa for the rest of the week. He usually left earlier than her to work and Tifa arrived late at night from her orientations and various meetings and went to straight to bed afterwards. She usually stayed out for the whole day, eating out at wherever instead of at home.

So, come Friday afternoon, Tifa came home earlier than usual and was greeted with the ever present chaotic mess of a living room. She's been constantly in and out of the apartment since Monday that she hadn't actually noticed the ring stains on the glass coffee table nor the crumbs littering the carpet. Tifa could just feel her inner neat freak coming out as she eyed the coffee mug with two day old coffee three feet away. Her skin crawled at the sight of the overflowing trash bin and her eye twitched at the ever present dirty laundry resting on the couches.

Tifa huffed and put her stuff in her room before changing out of her white blouse and slacks. Yoga pants and crop top would do just fine for a cleaning spree. Living with a messy person isn't all that bad if you have someone to handle it before it got out of control. Obviously, she'll have a few choice words with her new roommate about hygiene, but she was obsessively neat enough for the both of them. She tied her long hair up and cracked her knuckles before she tackled the war zone.

She began checking the cupboards in the kitchen for a bottle of cleaning agent and encountered a large array of alcoholic beverages lined up neatly behind a box of saltine crackers, a box of brownie mix and two cans of expired tuna on one of the upper shelves. _How long does it have to be there for canned tuna to expire?_ Tifa thought to herself. But an idea struck her and she grinned gleefully.

She pulled out a bottle of the cheaper vodka and the box of brownie mix. After a long week of introductory meetings, interviews, and settling in the new apartment, nothing could beat a little bit of alcohol. _I'm sure I saw some juice in the fridge._ She paused and plugged her phone to the sound system and began to play her favorite song before turning back to the kitchen.

She expertly poured herself a quick drink and placed the vodka back in the cabinet before getting to work with the brownies. She would prefer making them from scratch but Cloud's kitchen was barren and she would have to go out shopping to get the ingredients. However, considering she had no energy left to go out, that was not an option. Brownie mix it is.

After she popped the batter into the oven, she quickly got to work on the living room. She tied up as much garbage in the bag as she could and dumped it near the door before replacing it with a new bag. As the beat in the music changed, the skip in her step became more prominent and she spun herself on her heel before she picked up the empty (and partially full) pizza boxes and dumped them into the new garbage bin.

She belted out the chorus, as one does, and started spraying the coffee table with window cleaner to the beat, wiping the grime off as she continued to mumble the rest of the lyrics. She turned around and threw the wet paper towel into the bin from across the room, making the shot. She cheered for herself and began to pick up the dirty laundry.

Warbling out the last of the song, she spun herself to toss the rest of the clothes into the pile she had made in front of the hallway, but her heart shot up her throat in shock when she suddenly noticed Cloud and two other people standing at the doorway. The clothes in her hand dropped to the floor as her grip became slack with shock. Cloud had both his hands covering his face while the tall man next to him waved at her merrily. The redhead on Cloud's left looked like he was trying not to laugh, cheeks bright red from restraint.

And that's when she noticed the song she just sang to belonged to one of her older playlists from early high school.

Embarrassment flooded her system, and her face blanked as she struggled to process how to approach the situation. She opened her mouth and then closed it, before trying to speak again but decided against it once more. Her cheeks turned bright red when the next song continued to play in the background, the chorus chiming some incredibly sexual lyrics, the only noise filling the silent void that had taken over the apartment.

"Is that brownies I smell?" The one with black hair exclaimed and moved towards the kitchen while the redhead followed. Tifa continued to look at Cloud in complete mortification.

"How-...How long have you guys been there," Tifa stuttered out indignantly.

"When you, uh, began picking up clothes off the ground," Cloud looked away and Tifa felt like she was imagining the slight pink dusting his cheeks. She tried to pick up the fragile pieces of what was left of her dignity and downed the rest of her drink. She gingerly sat down at the counter, watching as the two other men watched the brownies through the oven window like toddlers.

The black haired man looked up at Tifa with childish wonder, "Can we have some?"

It was so reminiscent of asking for treats all Tifa could think was, _Puppy_. She nodded hesitantly. The man cheered and the redhead joined in before he looked at Cloud.

"Where did you find this chick, yo?"

Cloud shot a warning look at the redhead and sat next to Tifa by the counter.

"Don't even think about it, Reno. Her name is Tifa. Zack, don't burn yourself, go back to the living room"

The redhead, Reno, pouted and turned back to the oven while Zack came around the counter to join them.

"Holy shit, Cloud! I can see your floor!"

"Shut up, Zack."

Holy Crap. _Holy mother of all craps_. Tifa's mind was racing a mile a minute. Gaia, she just danced and sang in front of complete strangers, terribly might she add. Why didn't Cloud say anything for goodness sake! She straightened her back and put on a determined look. She can recover from this. First impressions aren't always true. Years of being a mayor's daughter taught her the etiquette of being a proper host.

"Would you guys like a drink? Beer?"

Zack nodded enthusiastically with a 'Yes, Please!' while Reno chimed in with an affirmation. Cloud just politely shook his head and Tifa sat up and moved to the fridge. There were bottles of beer, an almost empty bottle of orange juice and some energy drinks tucked off to the side. Pulling two bottles of beer out in one hand, she nudged the fridge door close with her hip and opened a drawer to fish out the bottle opener.

With skilled ease, she popped the two caps off and handed the bottles to their recipients before getting a cup of water for herself. Reno jumped onto the counter and sat precariously on the edge, tipping back every so often when he drank from his beer.

"I can't believe ya gotta live-in bartender, Cloud. How'd ya do it? Bribery? Blackmail?"

Cloud just shoved Reno, causing the man to fall onto the floor with a resounding crash and a yelp of pain.

"Ya know, this hurts a lot more when there's no clothes on the ground, yo."

"In all seriousness," Zack asked, "are you, like, his new roommate?"

Tifa nodded and introduced herself, "Tifa Lockhart."

"I'm Zack Fair and that loser on the floor is Reno, no last name because he's a shady as fuck Turk."

An indignant 'hey' came from the floor and Zack, Cloud, and Tifa only chuckled.

Tifa could only smile behind her cup.

This whole introduction was a mess, but it was worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

3- A Wonderful Day-

Today, Cloud decided, was a crappy day in general.

The kind of day where you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and your hair looks like the ass of a Chocobo (more so than usual, at least). The one where you realize you're out of toothpaste and you almost drop your toothbrush into the toilet, only to actually drop your hairbrush instead. And then just when you thought you cleared the woods, your coffee spills all over your front and you have to change shirts only to realize it was laundry day for a reason.

Of course, this pales in comparison to losing your keys somewhere between the kitchen and the door, followed by back to back traffic filled with people who don't use their turn signals and almost smash into your still recovering motorbike. And by Gaia, somehow you misplace your ID and the security guards are jerks (I mean come on, I come by here everyday! You recognize Zack all the time and _Reno_ of all people.) Now you're just slouched against the lockers because you can't open it and the building services are on lunch break.

Yeah. It was _that_ kind of day.

Cloud sucked in the air and exhaled loudly as he shoved his hands into his uniform pockets. He finally managed to jam the locker open using a technique Reno mentioned a scarce few times. At first he was reluctant to listen to anything the Turk had to say because, well, it was Reno. But, he figured if there was anybody who would know how to jimmy a locker open around here, it was that thieving redhead.

He headed towards the lounge to take a glance at the mission board. He saw several second class lounging around with their first cups of coffee of the day with bleary eyes. He turned back to the board and started looking for something easy to start the day before the rest of the SOLDIERs got into gear.

That was when the head honcho came in.

Not the SOLDIER director, Lazard Deusericus, but Rufus Shinra, son of the President, shadowed by two Turks.

Shit.

"Yo! Strifey boy!"

Cloud cringed and scrunched his nose slightly. Rufus looked in the direction Reno jovially shouted in and Cloud straightened up, wiping the grimace off his face as the man approached.

"Hello, Strife. How's the new promotion treating you?"

Cloud stiffened at the tone. It sounded almost rhetorical and Cloud couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

"Good, sir."

Rufus seemed to look thoughtful for a moment before smiling to himself and shaking his head. Without any word of dismissal, Rufus just turned away and head for the Commander's offices through the hall in the lounge. As the Turks passed by, Reno gave another mock salute to Cloud.

"Later, Strife!"

Cloud's face pinched in distaste and watched as the redhead disappeared into the hall. He turned to look at the mission board again before a cadet saluted next to him.

"Sir!"

Cloud turned to the kid, who couldn't be more than fifteen years old, and saluted back, albeit more relaxed.

"SOLDIER First Class Fair requests your presence, sir!"

With another salute, the cadet was gone and Cloud was left with a feeling Zack paid that kid twenty gil just to do that in front of everyone in the lounge, instead of just messaging him on his PHS. He looked at the expressions in the peanut gallery for a moment. Yep, definitely paid.

That was when the wild goose chase began.

He spotted Zack in the Cafeteria first. And just as he called the man's name, Zack _got up and ran out of the cafeteria._ A full on sprint. And that was just the beginning.

It was in one of the training rooms, Cloud finally caught up to Zack in a room he knew was inescapable. Entrance and exit were the same door Cloud used his body to block.

"You! Don't you dare run again!" Cloud heaved out.

He was a First class too, but that didn't mean running across base wasn't a work out.

"Oh hey, Cloud! How's your morning?"

Cloud could only growl in response, his eyes narrowing dangerously, but Zack unapologetically barreled through the social cues to shut up.

"Congrats on your new rank! I know how hard you worked for it, although it looks like your endurance still needs work. Mako doesn't cover everything apparently!"

Cloud raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms before rolling his eyes and looking at his new black uniform with a small smile.

"I have to say, the uniforms are sick," he said with quiet amusement.

"Tell me about it," Zack grinned, "these babies don't even catch on fire!"

"I don't want to know where you got that information," Cloud shook his head, "So what did you want that would warrant losing twenty gil to a cadet."

Zack only looked affronted at the idea, "Me? Why, I would never invest in such a tasteless act. I'm offended you would think such, Spike!"

Cloud only gave him a flat look. Zack only looked away guiltily and cleared his throat.

"Uh, well, anyway. Your first assignment. You got recruit training, training grounds, in 0900 hours."

Zack clapped Cloud's shoulder and lifted his other hand with the clipboard to check his watch, "Which, wow, will you look at the time, is five minutes from now."

Cloud looked alarmed, "The training grounds is all the way on the other side of base!"

Zack only beamed.

"Snap to it, Spike!"

Cloud groaned and sprinted off. Zack turned back to his clipboard, squinted, and suddenly frowned.

"Oops, I meant 1000 hours."

He shrugged to himself and waited for the next victim reporting to him. Judging by the missing 60 gil from his wallet, he had two more.

* * *

"I'm going to kill that hedgehog," Cloud growled under his breath as he panted, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He was thirty minutes early, that bastard!

"I highly advise against killing your fellow SOLDIER," a voice rang out, "although I understand Zack can be a bit much sometimes."

Cloud swerved around to see the new voice and immediately snapped into a salute.

"General Sephiroth, sir!"

"At ease, Strife," Sephiroth tucked his sword away, realizing the training grounds were going to busy soon. Cloud eyed him quietly as he pulled out the clipboard for the upcoming class. The general only settled in silence for a minute or two before turning back to Strife.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Strife. It was well earned."

Cloud murmured his thanks but Sephiroth already turned heel and walked away, leaving Cloud alone to wait for his class. _Weird._

Cloud waited in silence for the next thirty minutes, bored out of his mind, but when his class arrived, Cloud wished he could return to those few quiet minutes.

Training the recruits, Cloud figured out (although too late) was a hazing technique; An initiation of sorts for the first class.

One would think sword training would be relatively easy to handle. Block-block-strike, rinse and repeat. It was second nature to Cloud, although he could understand that was because he's been doing this for years now.

But no.

Short of decapitation, the recruits were swinging wildly anywhere and everywhere, slicing everything in their path, be it a training dummy or a fellow recruit. He had sent at least five recruits to the infirmary, two of which had self inflicted injuries. There was debris littering the floor from the walls- _and the ceiling?_ At least it wasn't blood or missing limbs, he mused. Cloud only sighed for the nth time today. He hadn't had lunch and it was getting late. He wanted to go home so badly.

"Yo Cloud!"

Cloud turned to see Reno and Zack approaching. Cloud whipped the broom out like a sword and pointed it at Zack.

"You! You gave me the wrong time!"

Zack only laughed and Cloud scowled. He began to clean the floor again furiously.

"Why the rush, Strife?"

Cloud only glanced over his shoulder briefly.

"Places to be."

"Where do you have to go? Back to the apartment? To go home to _somebody_?" Reno waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Cloud leveled him with a glare. Zack tapped his chin.

"She's a college student right? What college? There's like five in Midgar downtown alone."

"I don't know."

"Major? If she's a law student it's probably the one on Loveless avenue. Whatsit again?"

"Midgar Institute of Law?" Reno chimed in

Cloud shrugged and turned back to cleaning, hiding the frown growing on his face.

"You don't even know what school she goes to? You're like living with a complete stranger, yo!"

"It's only been a few weeks."

"Cloud," Zack interfered, "Maybe you should get to know her."

Cloud put the mop away and turned to them.

"Any ideas on how I should do that?"

"Take her on a date, Strife."

"No, Reno."

Cloud headed back towards the locker room as Zack and Reno tossed ideas around. None of them, of course, were actually good ideas. At one point the pair mentioned materia use and that only spelled trouble. Cloud just grabbed his keys and left, while the two were blissfully distracted by their own conversation.

* * *

He arrived back home without any problems and when he stepped through the threshold of his apartment, a weight seemed to lift off his shoulders. He dumped his bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes before padding his way to the living room.

"Welcome back!" A voice rang from the kitchen.

"Tifa?" Cloud walked over to the counter and peered over the bar when Tifa popped up from under the counter.

"What are you doing?"

"Searching…" she hummed as she pulled out a very large pan from the cabinets below. Cloud eyed the thing curiously.

"I wasn't aware I owned one of those…"

Tifa just hummed in agreement, "I wasn't either, but apparently you do."

"I also wasn't aware you would be home so soon. What happened to your usual schedule?"

"Afternoon lab got canceled. The TA got hurt with a scalpel. Bled out for a demonstration and passed out from blood loss. Professor had to take him to the ER," she reported distractedly while she pulled some food out of the fridge.

"Scalpel?" Cloud questioned slowly. Tifa paused and gave him a weird look.

"I'm in medical school, silly."

"Oh," Cloud ended lamely. He continued to watch Tifa bustle around the kitchen, pulling food out of supposedly empty cabinets like magic. He could've sworn he didn't own a box of pasta before.

"What are you cooking?"

"Dinner."

"It's...five-fifteen. Isn't it a bit early to warrant dinner?"

"It takes an hour to make, Cloud."

"Doesn't pizza only take ten minutes to deliver?"

Tifa turned to Cloud and put her hands on her hips, giving a stern look to him.

"I've been here for over a month and I've seen you eat pizza almost every other day. It's not healthy. Now that I'm actually here early, I can make us something healthy."

Cloud scrunched his nose incredulously.

 _Healthy?_

"Can you even cook?"

Tifa looked incredibly offended and whacked him with the dish towel. Cloud yelped and cradled the growing welt on his arm.

"Okay! Sorry!" he hastily retreated to the living room.

Tifa's glare melted and she turned back to chopping vegetables while Cloud sank into the couch. He called back to her.

"Just so you know, last time Zack's girlfriend tried 'healthy', we all ended up with food poisoning and I honestly don't want to repeat-"

Cloud couldn't duck fast enough when a wet paper towel flew towards his face, and the resounding smack kept Cloud quiet.

"I work at a bar on the weekends. I. Know. How. To. Cook," Tifa huffed out.

"Besides, whatever I make in the end, be it fried chicken or kale salad, it'll be far healthier than whatever Chocohut puts on their pizzas!"

Cloud pouted and began to sulk in his spot, "yes, mom," he grumbled, but immediately cradled his head when another wet paper towel hit him hard at the back of his skull.

* * *

Cloud looked at his plate suspiciously. Not that the dish looked anything like Aerith's cooking. It was definitely recognizable as a nice hot plate of pasta with a creamy white sauce. But it was because it looked so good and smelled so good, Cloud knew it couldn't possibly be true. Aerith's cooking taught him how looks can be deceiving.

"What is it?" Cloud eyed the plate warily.

Tifa gave him a strange look.

"Pasta with alfredo sauce. Not the healthiest, but better than pizza. Something wrong?"

"Hmm? No, nothing." He shook his head hurriedly and let a shiver go down his spine.

 _Here goes nothing._

He took a bite and his eyes widened.

"I told you."

Tifa looked smug but otherwise continued eating. Cloud silently dug in with more gusto and finished a second plate, followed by a third, which seemed to please Tifa immensely. They continued to talk about their day between bites, plates for Cloud. When finished, he got up to start the dishes and Tifa murmured her thanks as she dropped her plate in the sink under the running water.

Cloud learned a lot about Tifa today.

Apparently she cooks divine food, works at a bar on the weekends, is a medical student, is the daughter of a mayor of a tiny town out west, likes gardening and has a friend named Yuffie. Did he mention her pasta was out of this world? To hell with taking her out on whatever Reno and Zack had planned. Dinner at home with pleasant conversation seemed easier. Plus, a little pasta heaven on the side wasn't too bad either.

Today, Cloud decided, was a pretty good day.

AN:/And that's all I have rewritten so far! As you can see it's remained roughly the same with a few changes, a few cameos of other characters where they actually remain somewhat in character! Yay! Also Chocohut is like a the midgar version of Pizzahut. Sorry my naming skills aren't exactly very good. Also headcanon: Aerith can't cook for shit. Everyone makes her all domestic but somehow that doesn't sit well with me.

Hopefully I'll update sooner than later but no promises ;)

Questions? Concerns? Leave a review!


	4. Chapter 4

4 -Cheers-

Tifa's jaw tensed as she tried to fend off another wave of yawns, to no avail as once again she covered her gaping mouth for what seemed like the thousandth time in the last hour. Her professor had mentioned a colleague of his would be holding an interesting seminar in the afternoon that day. Tifa, the eager learner that she was, immediately dropped by to check it out, but quickly discovered why that was a bad idea.

As the lecturer droned on in his monotone drawl, Tifa felt her body sink lower into the seat. She could feel herself drifting off to dangerous napping territory as her eyelids drooped low. She sighed again and rubbed her eyes hoping to rub the sleep away from her gaze. In a few more moments, her consciousness began to drift when suddenly her phone began to vibrate.

Tifa jolted up, catching a few glances in the auditorium, before grabbing her stuff and bolting out of the auditorium. Once the heavy doors closed behind her she accepted the call and raised the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"..."

Tifa looked down at her phone for a moment and saw the call was still going.

"Cloud? Is that you? Is there something wrong?"

There was a scuffle on the other side of the call before Cloud spoke again.

" _Sorry...I'm not interrupting anything right?"_

Tifa shook her head but suddenly remembered she was on the phone.

"No, I was just about to leave anyway. What's up?"

" _Reno...he-"_

" _Don't listen, Tifa dearest! Cloud is- mmph!"_

Tifa listened as Reno's voice was suddenly silenced. Tifa paused for a moment.

"How did you get my number, Cloud?"

" _You put it on the fridge. I forgot about it, but Reno took it."_

"Uh, right. Everything okay?"

" _Yeah...we were just wondering if you wanted to go out with us tonight. Bar crawling."_

"Sorry, I can't," Tifa apologized, "My shift is tonight."

" _...Okay. Sorry again, I hope I didn't interrupt anything important."_

Tifa chuckled, "No worries. I'll be heading back now. See you in a bit."

Cloud murmured something in agreement and hung up.

Tifa turned her phone off and hefted her tote higher up on her shoulder. Time to finally head home.

* * *

Tifa entered the apartment and noticed three boots stacked in a heap by the door. The doormat was caked in mud and two giant swords were propped against the leather couch with a black tux jacket draped over the armrest. There were several muddy footprints trailing across the kitchen floor too, signifying someone didn't take their shoes off immediately.

Tifa's eye twitched in irritation.

Reno.

 _Or Zack, apologetically,_ a voice rang in Tifa's head.

She carefully avoided the mud with her clean shoes and took them off before walking across the carpeted floor to deposit her stuff in her room. She approached Cloud's slightly ajar door and heard several muffled voices behind it. She knocked several times.

"Come in!"

"Wait no-!" Reno shouted, but Tifa had already pushed the door open. Reno stumbled into Zack, sending them both to the ground.

"Can't you see you're interrupting something!" he shouted, and as if he had done the most comical thing in the world, Reno collapsed to the side cackling while Zack was on his back wheezing with laughter too. Tifa only looked blankly before turning to Cloud for answers. The man in question only shrugged and continued drinking from his bottle.

Tifa crossed her arms and glared.

"Are you...are you drunk already?"

For some odd reason this only sent Reno into another hysterical laugh, and left Zack clapping like a seal as his voice would no longer work.

"Those two are, I am not."

Cloud only tipped his beer back, holding back a smile.

"Sure," Tifa deadpanned, "and that track of mud in the front is also the result of your alcohol?"

Cloud blanched at that while Zack only sat up slowly.

"Sorry, Teef~" he dragged out the 'e', then looked up at Tifa with a pinched look. And to Tifa's growing horror, tears began to spring from the corner of his eyes.

"I didn't mean to, I swear! I just wanted to get my drink right away, and the mud had already gotten on the floor," Zack wailed.

Tifa turned to look at Cloud as Zack clung to her ankles. Cloud looked alarmed when she glowered at him with a look that meant 'fix it' before wrenching herself away from the crying man and stalking out of his room.

"When I get back I want the entrance clean! I'm not your maid!" Tifa's voice carried down the hall. There was a cacophony of "Yes ma'am" from Cloud's room and Tifa only shook her head before getting ready for work.

After a heartbeat of silence, Tifa quickly discovered there was never a calm moment in this apartment complex when she suddenly heard a crash and a loud sound of glass breaking. She looked up and closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply.

"Murder doesn't solve problems, Tifa," she murmured to herself.

* * *

Tifa was out of breath when she finally pushed the door open. She clutched her purse tighter as she leaned against the door frame for a moment to catch her breath. A few people behind the bar took a moment to wave hello to her.

"Tifa! Barret is looking for you!" One of the bartenders called out.

Tifa gave her thanks and quickly moved to the back towards the kitchen.

"Barret! Sorry for being late, one of the metro lines were down."

"Don' worry 'bout it. Heard it from Yuffie," a gruff voice responded before the man himself stepped out from behind a small office door.

"Heard what?"

"Your new livin' arrangment, what else?"

Tifa grimaced a little before setting her purse down and removing her jacket.

"Knowing Yuffie, you probably got a mostly fabricated tale and maybe a truth or two lodged in there, somewhere."

Barret crossed his arms, tattooed muscles bulging, as he looked at Tifa with consideration.

"Yeah, well, I'm not too keen on you stayin' with some man-"

Tifa waved him off, "It's not like that, Barret. He's got good character. I feel like you'd like him."

Barret still didn't looked convinced, but nodded acquiescently.

"I trust you know what you're doin', Teef. But if you ever need a place to stay for a bit, you know who to call," and without another word, Barret returned to his office to answer a phone that just began to ring.

Tifa returned to the bar and nodded at her fellow bartender, Loz. He was a weird sort of fellow, very emotional particularly with regards to any drama show he's been watching recently. Tifa remembered fondly the one time Loz came to work with tears pouring down his face and when prompted as to why, he began to report in depth how his favorite background character had his heart broken. Any customer who asked if he was okay restarted his tirade. It was a fun night.

"Oi, Tifa," Loz grunted as he lifted a crate from the floor to the counter, "We got a big night ahead of us. Shinra's got some shindig goin' on around here. A lotta military officers with big paychecks are gonna be hangin' around."

Tifa brightened at the prospect, just not in the money grabbing excitement Loz was feeling. A lot of Shinra's high ranking military officers were regarded as celebrities around the area, and of course Midgar had the highest concentration and therefore a higher likelihood or running into one. Even General Sephiroth seldom strayed from Midgar so a lot of the Silver Elite prowled the streets in hopes of running into the man. Tifa wasn't as crazy, but she was still curious.

Then a thought crossed her mind. Cloud was military too, and so was Zack. Hell, even Reno was a Turk, he's bound to know somebody. He probably knows Elena of the Turks! If he could introduce her to the martial artist turk, her night would be made. Maybe Cloud knew some First class SOLDIERs too! Although Tifa wasn't sure how high ranked they were. Tifa pulled out her phone to text Cloud but was interrupted with the first customer approached the bar. She quickly stuffed her phone in her pocket and took the order.

And so the night began.

* * *

The workload started out manageable but when the uniforms started pouring in, Loz had to call in his brother Yazoo for an extra hand. Tifa was overwhelmed with orders but she saw a few familiar faces, giving her moments of repose to say hello. Yuffie dropped by for a moment to order her drink and provide unnecessary commentary on Tifa's social life or lack thereof. A few of her classmates who were part of the medical program with Shinra's military dropped by to greet her, albeit awkwardly.

"I'll have a gin and tonic," A man interrupted her train of thought, and Tifa grabbed the cash in front of her and committed the man's face to her memory and began to make his drink. A few moments later, she set the drink down on the counter and scanned the crowd for the same face when her eyes settled on another face, startlingly familiar.

The glowing bioluminescent eyes stood out in the dimly lighted bar and they widened as they met Tifa's eyes. She subconsciously noted the drink she had set down was now taken but focused on Cloud as he approached the bar.

"Tifa! You work here?"

As he stepped into the neon lights of the bar, Tifa's sight honed in on the black SOLDIER uniform. Tifa owlishly looked at the giant buster sword slung over his back, slowly connecting the dots. Glowing blue eyes, giant sword, black SOLDIER uniform, high end apartment in Midgar.

"You're first class?" Tifa blurted.

Cloud looked down at his uniform, momentarily lost by the abrupt segue, before scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yes?"

Tifa still looked incredulous, "Sorry, I just- I didn't think you'd, like-"

Cloud snorted, somehow still managing to look poised. Tifa always sounded ridiculous when she snorted, she blamed it on the mako injections. Cloud at least looked amused.

"You didn't think I'd be first class? You wound me, Tifa."

He clenched a hand against his chest in mock hurt while still maintaining a mischievous glint in his eyes. Mirth bubbled up in Tifa's chest, and she barked out a laugh.

"I'm sorry, you just didn't seem like the type!"

Cloud doubled over as if pained and clutched the counter mockingly.

"Not helping, Tifa."

"It's you messy habits that's tarnishing your reputation," Tifa teased, "Maybe if you were neat...Well, we all know that's a lost cause."

Cloud chuckled and shook his head, "I shouldn't keep you from your job so I'll leave you to it."

Tifa's laughter ebbed away and she gave Cloud a smile before turning to the next customer.

* * *

It was later in the night, when the tipsy were now drunk, and there were more empty tables than full, when things got a little crusty. Tifa was wiping down the tables while Loz and Yazoo manned the bar when she passed a particularly rowdy table of three Shinra soldiers. The first time she passed the table, there were leering comments murmured among them followed by rambunctious laughter. It was nothing Tifa wasn't used to already but she immediately flagged the table down, fist instinctively clenching around the wash rag in her hand.

She looked at her phone, noting it would be perfectly reasonable to kick them out now, call a cab for them and send them on their merry way to be someone else's inebriated problem. She finished wiping a table down before walking by the table again to drop the rag by the bar when suddenly, a hand roughly grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

She turned to the offender and narrowed her eyes. She pulled slightly and frowned when the hand didn't let go.

"I'm going to have to ask you to let go. Is there something you need?" she gritted out. She may be seconds away from delivering a black eye but customer service came first.

The man in question had a dangerously glazed look in his eyes and a caustic smile as his eyes trailed over her. Tifa felt her spine crawl but stood firm.

"You're a pretty little thing. What's your name, sweetheart?"

Tifa's heart was pounding in flight or fight as the adrenaline surged through her veins. Barret could understand this, right? She's had a perfect track record, what's one fight to that? Tifa clenched her free'd hand and growled out, "Sir, let go of my hand."

The man only looked on in sick delight, "Feisty one, are you? I like a little fire in my bitc-"

His words were cut off in a sharp cry of pain as Tifa wrenched her arm along with his grip into an armlock. Securing her grip on the man she hauled him out of his seat and dragged him to the door, where Loz coincidentally opened the door wide, allowing Tifa to all but throw the man out the of the establishment. She turned around to the other two men, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Get out."

There was a heartbeat of silence after the two quietly spoken words before the two men scrambled out of their seats and almost ran out of the door. Loz closed the door and the silence settled before the clattering of cups and small conversations began to litter the bar again. Tifa breathed in and closed her eyes, pushing back the sudden rush of energy and calming her rapidly beating heart. The situation was under control but Tifa's hands still felt like they were shaking.

"Are you okay?"

Tifa opened her eyes to see Cloud next to her, eyes filled with something akin to worry. She shook her head and gave a reassuring smile but Cloud didn't looked convinced. He reached out, hand momentarily pausing as if hesitant before he rested it on her shoulder lightly. The touch, for all that had just happened, should have made Tifa flinch instinctively but weight of Cloud's hand only grounded her to the present. She focused on that and continued to breathe slowly, feeling the anxiety slowly recede.

"I'm fine," she breathed out, "I'm okay. Thank you, Cloud."

Tifa patted his hand with her own and slowly removed it, "I have to get back to work. You should get going. It's getting late."

Tifa walked over to the bar, but Cloud only followed her over and silently plopped himself at one of the vacant stools. Tifa quirked her eyebrow but he only propped his elbow on the counter and leaned his head into his hand. His movements were slightly sluggish and his eyes were a little cloudy with the alcohol, but he gave a small smile.

"I'll wait."

There was no room for argument in that simple statement and Tifa only nodded before placing a cup of water in front of him and getting back to work.

A little while later, the bar was cleared out and went to the back to pick up her coat and purse before returning to where she could see Cloud seated. He was sitting silently, scrolling through his PHS, tapping out a message every once in awhile.

"Cloud, let's go home."

He looked up lethargically and slowly removed himself from the bar to join Tifa near the entrance.

"How did you get here?" Tifa asked.

Cloud looked startled, "Uh...Shit, Zack got Kunsel to drive us here."

Tifa filed away a reminder to ask who Kunsel was.

"Do you have a metro pass?"

Cloud scrunched his nose in confusion. Tifa let out a tired chuckle.

"C'mon, chocobo head. Let's take your first tour of Midgar's metro system."

Tifa grabbed Cloud by his gauntlet and dragged them both to the nearest station.

It was a hilarious affair, watching Cloud struggle to purchase a ticket, feed it through the machine, and climb aboard the train, making sure his gigantic sword didn't clip the door frame. To be fair, he wasn't exactly sober, but his inability to do simple things made Tifa laugh regardless. The ride home was silent and the only words spoken between them was a quiet good night before they both retired to their rooms.

* * *

Sunday night was a calmer shift for Tifa. There were less patrons at the bar and of course, a sane majority of Midgar didn't drink before going to work on Monday. Tifa was lulled by the perpetual motion of cleaning the cups by the sink as Loz dished out the drinks. Her trance was interrupted when a shock of blond hair came to view.

"Cloud?"

Cloud looked up and gave a wave. He looked a bit exhausted with a crease between his brows. Tifa approached and gently flicked her finger between his eyes.

"The military party was yesterday, silly. What are you doing here?"

"Hilarious," Cloud rolled his eyes, "Can I get a glass of Costa Soda?"

Tifa deadpanned, "You're here because you want...soda?"

Cloud shrugged and placed the necessary bills on the counter, "What can I say, I got the time."

Tifa crossed her arms and didn't move, giving Cloud a questioning look. Cloud stood his ground for a minute before he caved.

"I'm gonna drive you home. There's no way I'm letting you go through that complicated metro stuff again."

Tifa's lip twitched but she obliged and placed a glass of fizzling Costa Soda in front of him, pushing the cash back towards him.

"On the house for a ride home," Tifa laughed as she returned back to cleaning the cups in the sink.

A couple of minutes later, she looked back up to see Cloud looking at his PHS again, the crease between his brows forming again.

"A Gil for your thoughts?" she piped.

Cloud's eyes flicked up for a second before he flipped his PHS shut again and exhaled.

"Busy day at the office today. Had to report a few people and deal with the repercussions. Just making sure HR doesn't muck up the paperwork."

"Oh? What warranted a report?"

"Inappropriate conduct. And it's interdepartmental so I can't enforce the punishment, hence all the paperwork."

Tifa paused, "What did they do that was bad enough to make you go through such a lengthy process?"

"Can't say. Sorry."

Cloud silently sipped his soda before returning to his PHS that had just beeped with a new message. Tifa knew a redirect when she saw one so she refocused on the dishes before her.

Later in the evening, Cloud introduced Tifa to his motorcycle, Fenrir. After a minute of laughter at such a serious pet name, which Cloud surprisingly took graciously, Tifa took a moment to admire the metal work and the paint job.

"It's custom made," Cloud said smugly. Tifa rolled her eyes and raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Alright," she conceded, "I'm impressed."

Just when she thought she couldn't be more amazed, after the ride home, Tifa contemplated buying a motorcycle of her own. Then she chuckled to herself. Maybe after a saving decade's worth of pay at the bar.

* * *

AN:/ I have not abandoned this story yet! Haha, I know updates are slow but I got a lot stuff on my plate at the moment. Since it's still rewriting at this point, it was relatively easy to fix up this chapter (still had to add a lot though).

Questions? Concerns? Leave a review! Hopefully I'll see you in the next update!


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